


Stolen Dance

by camt55



Category: HPHM - Fandom, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Hogwarts Mystery
Genre: 1993, F/M, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-22
Updated: 2019-07-22
Packaged: 2020-07-10 11:17:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19904860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/camt55/pseuds/camt55
Summary: Years after they left Hogwarts, Charlie and Alice see each other again.





	Stolen Dance

Two years. It had been a bit more than two years since he had last seen her. Two years during which he had kept himself busy taking care of dragons, doing his best not to think of her, wondering if maybe she had replaced him, forgotten about him. Two years spent regretting his decision to let her go, to make sure she would realize her full potential. Two years, and yet, here she was, still dazzling. If his family hadn't won the Daily Prophet Grand Prize Galleon Draw, he wouldn't have seen her again. If his mother hadn't forced him to join them on their trip to visit Bill in Egypt, he wouldn't have seen her. He wouldn't have seen how happy she looked.

"Oi, Charlie! Are you listening to me?" Bill said, poking his brother's cheek.

"Huh? What?" Charlie replied, blinking as he broke out of his daze.

"What is distracting... Oh, I see..." replied Bill, looking in the direction Charlie had spent the last five minutes staring at, noticing Alice Beaumont with some of her friends.

"Why is she here?" muttered Charlie.

"This party was organized in her honour by the Egyptian Ministry of Magic. She managed to get the sceptre of Anubis from a chamber that was guarded with Merlin knows how many curses. Nearly was killed. Came out of there with so many scars and burns... " explained Bill.

"How come she doesn't have a scratch on her then?" Charlie asked, glancing in the Curse-Breaker's direction.

"Penny's potions and Alice's own healing talents, probably. You know she spent a lot of time in the Hospital Wing helping Madam Pomfrey," pointed out Bill. "I'm pretty sure Andre's knowledge in beautification spells also helped..."

Penny Haywood and Andre Egwu were among the group hanging out with Alice. The others were Rowan Khanna and Barnaby Lee. Charlie kept looking between Alice and Barnaby, wondering if they were now a couple. He remembered the Slytherin had had a crush on the Ravenclaw for a long time, though probably only realizing his feelings after Charlie and Alice started dating, as he had never tried to make a move on her before then...

"Charlie!" he heard his little sister say.

"What?" replied Charlie.

"Wanna come grab some food with me?" asked Ginny.

"I'm not hungry..." he replied, still glancing in Alice's direction.

"Are you sick? You're always hungry! Ugh, why are you so... Oh, is that Alice? And Penny?" asked the young girl as she noticed the two people she had considered to be like surrogate sisters when she was a child.

"Hum... yes..." mumbled Charlie.

"I'll go and say hi!" exclaimed Ginny.

"Not sure it's a good idea..." replied Charlie.

"Why? They hate you, not me. Alice! Penny!" Ginny shouted, waving her arm to get the two young women's attention.

Charlie remembered how both Ginny and his mum were mad at him for breaking up with Alice. Ginny loved having another girl around, and Mrs. Weasley had come to care for the young Ravenclaw, whom she eventually saw as a perfect match for her dragon-loving son.

Both Alice and Penny turned their heads at the same time, seeing Ginny approaching them with a broad smile. They both smiled back, happy to see the young girl until Alice noticed who was standing a few steps behind the youngest Weasley. Her smile faded, replaced by wide eyes and a barely opened mouth. Her eyes caught his. Two years since she had seen those eyes. Those eyes that sparkled anytime dragons were mentioned. That sparkled when he saw her...

They stared at each other for what felt like hours, as if the rest of the world didn't exist. Penny noticed. Penny always noticed when something was wrong or when her best friend simply acted differently. Penny quickly saw the reason behind Alice's sudden daze. Him. Two years she had spent making sure Alice would forget about him. She remembered all too well their last train ride between Hogwarts and Kings Cross. Alice had cried in her arms until she had fallen asleep, all while Tulip and Tonks were planning pranks to avenge their dear friend, and Rowan had taken Alice's place to patrol the corridors of the train.

Penny had tried to match her with many guys, to no avail. She was currently trying to match her with Barnaby Lee, who she knew had a thing for the young Curse-Breaker, but when it came to romance, Alice was as dumb as soup. Every flirt, every small gesture had gone over her head, Alice being oblivious to that sort of gestures, too busy being lost in her own world. And now, there she was, staring at the one person that had broken her heart. Penny, as always was quick to react, she nudged Barnaby with her elbow and, catching his attention, nodded in Alice's direction, mouthing: "Ask her to dance."

Barnaby didn't understand why Penny wanted him to dance with Alice right now, but he didn't mind. He tapped on her shoulder, which seemed to take her out of a trance, and outstretched his hand toward her.

"Care to join," he said smoothly.

"Sure," she replied with a blithe smile, taking his hand.

He led her to the dance floor under the watchful eye of Charlie Weasley, who kept observing them while they danced. He looked on as Barnaby twirled Alice around, reminding him of their first dance together. He remembered how Alice loved to dance, how she loved having a skirt that twirled every time she turned.

She seemed to be having fun with Lee. As the song came to an end, he walked toward Barnaby as if his feet had a mind of their own. He wasn't sure what he was about to do, but he knew he had to do it. He tapped on Barnaby's shoulder and said, as Moonlight Serenade started playing: "Mind if I steal her away for one dance?"

Barnaby turned around, coming face to face with Charlie, as Alice stood there, frozen.

"I'm not sure it's a good idea," Barnaby replied, taking a somewhat protective stance in front of Alice, but before he could do anything, Andre was at his side, pulling his arm.

"Come! I want you to meet someone!" Andre said, tugging Barnaby away from Charlie and Alice.

"But..." Barnaby said, trying to get away without any success, all while Penny started to make her way toward the former couple. Andre caught her wrist and dragged her along.

"They need to talk," he whispered in her ear, leading her to follow him reluctantly.

Charlie mouthed a quick thank you to Andre before turning his attention back to Alice, who was still standing there, staring at him blankly.

"So... do you want to dance?" asked Charlie, outstretching his left hand toward Alice while he rubbed his nape with the other.

"Sure..." muttered Alice, taking his hand and resting her other one on his right shoulder, making sure to keep a certain distance between their bodies as they danced.

"So... How have you been?" he asked, trying to break the awkward silence.

"Fine... I guess... You?"

"Fine... So... still hanging out with some of your friends, I see," he said, trying to keep the conversation going.

"Yeah... Penny supplies me with potions. She joined Rowan and me at Ilvermorny when she realized she could learn new things regarding potions in America. She opened a potion store in Salem while I was in Uganda, where she sells basic potions. For more complicated ones, people have to order them. It allows her to travel... " explained Alice, glancing at their intertwined hands.

"I'm assuming her travels have something to do with you..." replied Charlie.

"Yeah... I think the idea of being stuck in a store all day bored her after all the adventures we had at Hogwarts..." pondered Alice.

"What about Andre? Last I heard, he was designing outfits for Gilderoy Lockhart."

"You haven't heard? Lockhart's gone mad, and it turned out that he didn't actually do what he said he did in his books," explained Alice, looking over his shoulder.

"Never liked the bloke anyway," mumbled Charlie. "What about Rowan and Barnaby?"

"Rowan got a teaching position at Ilvermorny. She keeps hoping some vacancies will eventually open up at Hogwarts though. Barnaby is a Magizoologist like he wanted... I sometimes consult him when the artifact I have to retrieve is guarded by a magical creature," Alice said, avoiding Charlie's gaze.

"I'm happy for them..." replied Charlie, a small smile appearing on his lips as he kept swaying with Alice to the rhythm of the music.

"I see you cut your hair," she said, noticing the lack of ponytail.

"Yeah... Turns out long hairs are not a good idea around dragons..." he replied, smirking.

"I guess dragons are more efficient at burning hair than exploding pillows," said Alice with a laugh.

"Most definitely," replied Charlie, also laughing. She had not heard that hearty laugh in a while, and her laugh quickly faded away.

"What are you doing?" she said, her eyes staring straight into his.

"What do you mean?" he replied, his smile dwindling, noticing what seemed like the beginning of tears in her eyes.

"Why are you dancing with me? Why are you talking to me? Why Charlie? You broke up with me. Why are you doing this?" she pleaded, her voice cracking.

"I... I just needed to talk to you. I needed to explain to you why I did what I did... why I broke up with you..." he said, trying to remain calm as he saw her eyes filling up with tears.

"I thought you made it very clear last time..." whispered Alice, letting go of Charlie's left hand to wipe away some tears that had started to slide along her cheek.

"No, no, I didn't, I..." he said, trying to wipe away some of her tears with his thumb, but she backed away.

"Don't!" she murmured, looking straight into his eyes. "Just... don't..."

"Alice... Please..." he pleaded, feeling a pain in his stomach when she removed her other hand from his shoulder.

"No, Charlie... You were right... It was only a school romance..." she started saying just as the song ended. "And now... it's over... You got your dance. Goodbye... Charlie," she said, briskly walking outside the reception hall.

"No... no... It wasn't just a school romance..." muttered Charlie to himself, staring at the door she had left through.

**Author's Note:**

> The original is over on my Tumblr (https://alice-beaumont-ravenclaw.tumblr.com/post/176853190509/stolen-dance). For other fics, check out my master list (https://alice-beaumont-ravenclaw.tumblr.com/post/178857765709/masterpost).


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